We covered one of the best budget controllers for Xbox last year with the Gamesir G7 SE but Turtle Beach has since released the Stealth Ultra which comes in on the opposite side of the spectrum. And given the state of other “premium” controllers on the market (I’m looking at you, Microsoft Elite 2 Core), it’s a welcomed addition to the line-up. Wireless with Hall Effect joysticks, mechanical buttons, and a smart, digital menu, the Stealth Ultra comes in at $200. For that price, has Turtle Beach released the new controller king? Be sure to hit the video below to see all of the details.
Unboxing & Setup
In case you missed our live unboxing of the Stealth Ultra, it took longer than expected to get the controller set up and running on my PC. Now, I may have been able to do it quicker if I wasn’t live on YouTube but regardless, the experience wasn’t as seamless as I would have expected for the price point.
Included in the box is the charging base station, a wireless dongle, a cable, a case with a cable passthrough, and some rubberized caps for the sticks – two are domed, and two are recessed.
Design
Overall the controller looks and feels great. It’s light in the hand coming in at just 250g. For comparison, my Microsoft Elite 2 Core weighs in at 332g without the paddles installed. There are RGB strips on the grips that can be customized straight from the smart screen on the controller itself.
On the front of the controller are the expected Xbox button, upload button, and a plus button that activates the Connected Command Display and opens up tons of customization.
Comfort
Ergonomics-wise, my hands feel right at home on the Stealth Ultra. The handles on the sides of the controller sit nicely in the palms of my hands without feeling too big or too small. The grips have some texture but it’s not as grippy as the rubberized handles on the Xbox Elite 2 controller.
Stealth Ultra: Video
Smart Controls
Be sure to watch the video for a full walkthrough of the Connected Command Display but here are a few highlights.
By activating the Display and cycling through the options, there are menus for connecting, system, social, profiles, headset mixer, buttons mapping, vibration, lighting, and linking to the app.
For me, the standouts in the command center are quick access to audio controls when a headset is plugged in and the ability to quickly change the rear button mapping. With 10 different profiles, it’s also easy to set up the controller for different users or different games.
These controls and customizations are also accessible through a dedicated Turtle Beach app but I’ve had a smoother experience operating them on the controller rather than the app.
Stealth Ultra: Antidrift Sticks
Stealth Ultra uses Hall effect sensors for the thumbsticks that, in theory, will hold up much better than the sensors found in most controllers up until now. For a very quick overview, standard sensors have physical contacts that wear out over time and cause stick drift while hall effect sensors use a magnetic field without physical contact.
In practice, the sticks feel extremely smooth and accurate. Running it on gamepadtester.com gave some of the best results for circularity that I’ve seen. Through the Command Display, the dead zones of each stick can be adjusted individually and even when set to 0 the sticks snapped back to a near-zero figure on the gamepad tester. These sticks are the real deal and will be a welcomed upgrade for anyone who has experienced stick drift in the past.
Triggers
While the total trigger pull is a bit shorter than a standard or full Elite controller, the triggers on the Stealth Ultra feel great. There is an aggressive anti-slip texture and rumble motors which I love for racing games like Forza Horizon 5 and Motorsport.
Stealth Ultra has a short trigger mode as well. While it’s not the three-stage adjustment of the Elite, flipping the switch to the short mode makes trigger pulls very quick.
Back buttons
Like many of its competitors, the Stealth Ultra has four mappable buttons on the back of the controller. Two of the buttons sit perfectly under my middle fingers when I grip the controller naturally and have a very satisfying click – they feel just as good as the face buttons on top of the controller.
I have to stretch my fingers to reach the inner back buttons and for that reason, I don’t use them very often. Typically, in FPS games, I’ll map jump and crouch to these back buttons that I can reach quickly and reload and swap weapons to the two that are a bit harder to press.
All-in-all, I’d say the back buttons are one of the better non-paddle implementations that I’ve tried. It might be because I’ve spend the most time with an Xbox Elite controller but for me, those paddles on the back are the easier buttons for me to reach of any aftermarket controller.
I also have to give another quick shoutout to the Gamesir G7 SE here with its budget price point, hall effect sticks, and easy-to-use back buttons.
Face buttons
If you like the sound and feel of a mechanical face button switch, you’ll love the Stealth Ultra. I’ve heard in the comments of other reviews that some people find mechanical switches to be too loud but I love the feel of them. I also find the Stealth Ultra to be a bit quieter than other controllers like the Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma.
D-pad
The D-Pad on the Stealth Ultra is my least favorite part of the controller when it comes to physical inputs. I like that it has mechanical switches and has a nice sound but there is a bit of slop to it. With light force, it feels like the button is actuated but then it needs to be pressed further down to activate a button. Like the paddles on an Elite controller, I would probably just get used to it over time but after spending some time with it the d-pad doesn’t carry the same premium feel that the rest of the controller does when it comes to buttons and switches.
Stealth Ultra: Battery life
Turtle Beach boasts up to 30 hours of battery life with the Stealth Ultra but most reviews are showing far less than that. I can only imagine that, like RGB-laden gaming mice, those pie-in-the-sky numbers are only obtained by limiting the shiny bits of the Stealth Ultra.
Maybe that contributes to the lighter-than-expected weight but it would be nicer to have bigger batter life life from a $200 controller. Granted, if you use the charging base, it should be ready to rock with a full battery every time you pick it up but with some users reporting 6-8 hours, that’s significantly lower than the claimed time from Turtle Beach.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Overall the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra is a great-feeling controller but there are just some things that make me wish it was a little more refined. I don’t like the slop from the D-Pad and the setup and app experience were pretty poor for me.
Granted, everything works as it should on the controller which is more than can be said for Xbox’s own Elite Series 2 controller. Be sure to watch my review of the Core if you want to hear more about that disappointment.
Once I was up and running with it, though, the controller felt great. The sticks are probably the best I’ve used and in theory, should last longer than even the most expensive non-hall effect controllers. If you have the funds and want a premium feature-packed controller that will out-last the competition, the Stealth Ultra is looking like the right the way to go.
Buy Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra
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